Finding 1156312 (2024-002)

Finding 2024-002 Material Weakness in Controls over Compliance and Material Noncompliance – Allowable Costs Federal Program: 93.137 Community Programs to Improve Minority Health Year: 2024 Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services Criteria – In accordance with 2 CFR 200.403 and 2 CFR 200.302 (b)(3) costs charged to the federal program should be adequately supported by source documentation. Condition – Payroll expenses for one employee were inadvertently recorded twice for the fiscal year, resulting in an overstatement of personnel costs charged to the federal award. Further, indirect costs were charged in excess of the budgeted and approved amount under the grant agreement. Cause – The capturing of payroll expenses to the federal grant was not set up appropriately in the general ledger system which led management to record the above entries manually to the grant program. The manual process led to the duplication of the payroll journal entry and the overcharging of the indirect cost. Perspective – There are six key personnel who charged payroll to the federal program. Out of the six personnel one individual’s payroll was incorrectly duplicated. This resulted in a $30,291 over charge to the grant. Further, from an indirect cost perspective, the grant budget limited indirect costs to $18,296, however a total of $70,965 was charged to the grant, resulting in a $52,669 overcharge. Questioned Cost - $82,960 Effect – Overcharging expenses may result in the granting agency withholding future funding for this grant. Recommendation – Ensure the grant is appropriately set up in the system to capture the relevant expenses. Management also needs to have a more precise control to ensure no expense items are duplicated and are within budget. View of Responsible Officials – See Corrective Action Plan